Nine

It was with hungry anticipation that I went to the Odeon, Leicester Square to see Rob Marshall's new musical film, Nine, and I was happy to fork out the steep £14 for the ticket. I loved Chicago, and was delighted to see the musical film making a classy comeback. Could he possibly improve on Chicago? The trailer suggested that this was highly likely.
I couldn't have been more wrong. I was utterly disappointed with Nine, and left the cinema in a rage.
Now, I wouldn't call myself a feminist. Its a term that has earned its place in history, but it still holds separatist undertones for me. I am certainly an egalitarian though...unlike Mr. Marshall, apparently.
Nine is a story that revolves around Daniel Day Lewis, a feted Italian film-maker. To call him a total cad is an understatement. He is a completely self-absorbed, chauvinistic narcissist, totally wrapped up in his own issues, and oblivious to the hurt he is causing around him. Practically every woman in the film is "in love" with him, though he is not emotionally available to any of them. Nonetheless these overly submissive, weak women hang on every rare scrap of attention that he throws them. Its pathetic...they are pathetic. None of them stands up for themselves. They all tolerate his callous cruelty and go running back for more.
Spare me, bitches!
Daniel Day Lewis is an actor who should not sing and dance. Period. He has a poor singing voice and his "dancing" is self conscious and awkward - so he will probably get an Oscar.
The musical numbers, in themselves, are very watchable but they are cliched, sexualised Fosse-esque romps and I have seen it all done before, only better. They do little to advance a rather flimsy plot - the salvation of Day Lewis' tortured "artistic" soul.
Marshall would do well to revisit the canon of great films that changed the landscape of musical cinema. He could start with West Side Story and Cabaret, musicals that have left and indelible mark on the history of the moving image, rather than a nasty stain that no amount of scrubbing will remove, which is what Nine is. These films offered innovation in song and dance and visionary narrative devices. They were groundbreaking achievements that elevated the human spirit. Nine might be summed up with another cliche - "...all fur coat and no knickers." It is cheap and derivative yet masquerades as self-satisfied brilliance.
On a positive note, Fergie gave a wonderful performance. Her character was fascinating because she made it so. It had depth and soul and she played it with complete aplomb.
Thank God we live in an age of free downloads and don't always have to pay for dross that we kind of want to see. I was duped by "Nine" and if it were an expensive meal, I would send it back to the kitchen and leave the restaurant without paying.

The Falling Man

I have finished my first term at Photography college and have learnt an incredible amount already, not only about how to take better pictures, but also how to read images. Its a fascinating subject and I have inundated myself with biographical books about photographers and their lives. Also, of course, I am devouring tv programs and films on the subject.
I recently watched an incredibly moving documentary on Channel 4's online site, 4od, which shows that a single image really does speak more than words: The Falling Man.
A single image, captured on the horrific day of 9/11, was published only once and to me it has become the iconic image that captures the magnitude of the terror. As you can see though , the image is also strangely beautiful. The man, one of many who jumped from the World Trade Centre, rather than face a lingering incineration, looks almost balletic and serene as he plunges to his death. The composition is perfect. The Light and Shadow are split through the middle of the frame by his position in the centre. The parallel lines of the World Trade Centre increase the sense of vertigo...and yet there is a quiet, deathly calmness to the shot.
The photograph was printed in one newspaper on Sept 12th 2002 and led to an angry backlash from the American public, who felt that the image was too graphic and that it demeaned the victims. It was simply Too Much. It was never published again, and furthermore, from that point onwards, there was a concerted political effort to deny the fact that so many people jumped to their deaths from the ill-fated Twin Towers.
But thankfully the picture has survived to tell the truth about the day that forever changed America, and in a small way serves as a permanent monument to the life of the unfortunate subject, and to the fact that a single photograph can send shock waves around the globe.